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Posted by Scott Lucas | Jul 5, 2025 | 0
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the Vatican basilica, April 26, 2025
Friday’s Coverage: Russia Bombards Kyiv After Putin Tells Trump “No Compromise, No Ceasefire”
Map: Institute for the Study of War
UPDATE 1902 GMT:
Ukraine’s General Staff says it struck a critical Russian military-industrial site that produces components for high-precision weapons.
The overnight attack was on JSC VNIIR-Progress, a Russian State institute that specializes in electronic warfare systems used to jam satellite, radio, and radar signals. It is in the Chuvash Republic, around 1,200 km (745 miles) from the border.
The institute’s Kometa antenna is used in Iran-type attack drones, Iskander-K cruise missiles, and guided aerial bomb modules.
The General Staff said final damage assessments are underway.
A Ukrainian intelligence official also noted explosions in the far east of Russia that damaged a gas pipeline and destroyed a water pipeline supplying military facilities.
The source said the blasts set a fire and destroyed branches of the Vladivostok gas pipeline along the Sea of Japan early Saturday morning.
UPDATE 1209 GMT:
Following his call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump has indicated that he will agree to the supply of more Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “They’re going to need them for defense… They’re going to need something because they’re being hit pretty hard.”
Asked about the prospects for a ceasefire, Trump said, “It’s a very tough situation….I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people – it’s no good.”
UPDATE 1059 GMT:
At least four civilians were killed and 37 others injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past 24 hours.
Air defenses intercepted 292 of 322 drones launched by Russia overnight.
Two civilians were killed and four wounded in the Donetsk region in the east, one slain and 15 injured in Kharkiv in the northeast, and an 84-year-old man murdered and a 54-year-old man and a 10-year-old boy wounded in Zaporizhzhia in the south.
Casualties were also recorded in the Kherson, Chernihiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
UPDATE 1044 GMT:
Ukraine’s General Staff says its forces damaged a warehouse on the Borisoglebsk airfield in Russia’s Voronezh region.
The Staff said the overnight attack involved guided bombs, aircraft, and other military assets.
The airfield hosts Su-34, Su-35S, and Su-30SM jets used in airstrikes against Ukraine. The assault may have destroyed a training and combat aircraft, said the Ukrainian military.
Residents in the area reported 8 to 10 explosions around 2 a.m.
Blasts and fires were reported in at least six regions overnight.
UPDATE 0635 GMT:
Multiple sources have told the American outlet NBC News that — contrary to the stated reason for the suspension of deliveries of vital military aid to Ukraine — the Pentagon’s weapons inventory check did not reveal a critical shortage in US stockpiles.
The assessment found some stocks of precision-guided munitions were at reduced levels, but did not reach a critical minimum. The Pentagon Joint Staff concluded that continuation of aid to Ukraine would not deplete the stocks below the threshold to ensure combat readiness in the US.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said, “We are not at any lower point, stockpile-wise, than we’ve been in the 3½ years of the Ukraine conflict.”
NBC News confirmed that the decision to suspend aid was a unilateral move by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pushed by director of policy planning Elbridge Colby.
The sources said Hegseth also tried to halt deliveries in February and May but his decision was reversed days later on each occasion.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed an “important and fruitful” 40-minute call with Donald Trump on Friday.
Zelensky spoke with Trump a day after Vladimir Putin’s phone chat with the reality TV star. Putin reasserted Russia’s ultimata — the “root causes of the conflict” — for the seizure of four regions of Ukraine plus the Crimea peninsula; a weak and demilitarized Kyiv; the lifting of all sanctions on Moscow; and the possible fall of the Zelensky Government.
Trump responded, “I didn’t make any progress with him at all.” He told a rally in Iowa:
I’m very disappointed with the conversation…because I don’t think he’s there….I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.
Summarizing Friday’s call, Zelensky began with gratitude — despite the Pentagon’s suspension of deliveries of military aid to Ukraine this week — “for all the support provided”.
It helps us protect lives, safeguard our freedom and independence. We have achieved a lot together with America and we support all efforts to stop the killings and restore just, lasting, and dignified peace.
He wrote of discussion of Russia’s record-setting drone and missile strikes, “opportunities” in air defense, and a follow-up meeting between US and Ukrainian officials.
We had a detailed conversation about defense industry capabilities and joint production. We are ready for direct projects with the United States and believe this is critically important for security, especially when it comes to drones and related technologies.
Preoccupied with celebration of his bill slashing taxes, cutting healthcare and other services, and detaining migrants, Trump made no immediate comment.
A US official assured, “Trump said he wants to help with air defense and that he will check what was put on hold if anything.”
Germany offered one possibility for advance, saying it is in “intensive talks” to buy US-made Patriot air defense systems and transfer them to Ukraine.
“There are various ways to fill this Patriot gap,” a German Government spokesperson told a news conference on Friday.
In his nightly address to the nation, Zelensky focused on Russia’s record assault early Friday and an agreement with Denmark on co-production of munitions and military equipment.
It was a rocky start to the day, with more than 500 Russian attack drones and missiles. Difficult, but a significant number were shot down. Interceptor drones demonstrated important performance today and we are scaling this up to the hilt.
Today marks an important decision in… pic.twitter.com/TFTTyVjxLK
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 4, 2025
NATO’s Rutte Calls for US “Flexibility” After Cutoff of Aid to Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on the Trump Administration to show “flexibility” in military aid to Ukraine, after the sudden cutoff of assistance by the Pentagon.
The Pentagon’s policy planning director, Elbridge Colby, ordered the suspension of deliveries as American rockets, artillery shells, air defense missiles, and other munitions were on the tarmac in Poland.
See also Ukraine War, Day 1,225: “They Are Going to Lose More Lives” — Trump Administration Cuts Off Weapons to Kyiv
“The US has to make sure that the stockpiles are at the level we need for the US to have, because they are crucial for our collective defense,” Rutte told reporters. “At the same time, of course, we hope for the flexibility, we have to make sure also that Ukraine can move forward.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wished away the US suspension:
The United States has not stopped supplying weapons and supporting Ukraine. It has reviewed the decision to supply specific components….[This is] significant but very different from the total American disengagement that has been reported.
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Scott Lucas is Professor of International Politics at the Clinton Institute, University College Dublin; Professor Emeritus of International Politics at the University of Birmingham; and editor-in-chief of EA WorldView. He is a specialist in US and British foreign policy and international relations, especially the Middle East and Iran. Formerly he worked as a journalist in the US, writing for newspapers including the Guardian and The Independent and was an essayist for The New Statesman before he founded EA WorldView in November 2008.
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